Monday, December 29, 2014

Solidarity - Theory and PracticeEd. by Arto Laitinen & Anne Birgitta Pessi(Lexington Books, 2014)376 pagesDescriptionThis book brings together philosophers, social psychologists and social scientists to approach contemporary social reality from the viewpoint of solidarity. It examines the nature of different kinds of solidarity and assesses the normative and explanatory potential of the concept. Various aspects of solidarity as a special emotionally and ethically responsive relation are studied: the nature of collective emotions and mutual recognition, responsiveness to others’ suffering and needs, and the nature of moral partiality included in solidarity. The evolution of norms of solidarity is examined both via the natural evolution of the human “social brain” and via the institutional changes in legal constitutions and contemporary work life. Contents [preview]1. Solidarity - Theory and Practice - Arto Laitinen & Anne Birgitta Pessi2. Solidarity - Unpacking the Social Brain - Siegwart Lindenberg3. Collective Emotions as the ‘Glue’ of Group Solidarity - Mikko Salmela4. Empathy and our Relations to Others - Kristen Renwick Monroe5. Solidarity, Moral Recognition, and Communality - Simon Derpmann6. From Recognition to Solidarity - Arto Laitinen7. Solidarity and Work: a Reassessment - Nicholas H. Smith8. Solidarity in Times of Crisis - Constitutional Evolution and Europe - Hauke Brunkhorst9. National Social Models and Helping Others in the European Union - Juho Saari & Anne Birgitta Pessi10. Solidarity and Motivations to Help Others: the Case of Finns - Arto Laitinen & Anne Birgitta Pessi11. Solidarity in a Nordic Welfare State: the Case of Finland - Heikki Hiilamo12. Distant Suffering, Volunteering, and Solidarity - Bente NicolaysenThe book is based on papers presented at an international colloquium in Helsinki in 2010.See Arto Laitinen's homepage at academia.edu, where he has uploaded many of his papers and also a copy of his book on solidarity.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

The current issue of "Social & Legal Studies" (December 2014) features articles on the constitutional theory of Hauke Brunkhorst and his book "Critical Theory of Legal Revolutions" (Bloomsbury Academic, 2014). [Preview of the book here.]* "New Bearings in the Sociology of Law" [pdf] - Chris Thornhill and Emilios Christodoulidis* "Legal Revolutions and the Sociology of Law" [abstract] - Chris Thornhill* "World State: Brunkhorst’s ‘Cosmopolitan State’ and Varieties of Differentiation" [abstract] - Mathias Albert* "Hauke Brunkhorst’s Critical Theory of Legal Revolutions: Some Comments on Theory Construction" [abstract] - Jürgen Habermas* "Hauke Brunkhorst: Reflections on the Idea of Normative Progress" [abstract] - Robert Fine* "The Cunning of Law: Remarks on Brunkhorst’s Critical Theory of Legal Revolutions" [abstract] - Cristina Lafont* "Reply to Critics" [abstract] - Hauke BrunkhorstExcerpts from Jürgen Habermas's article:From the perspective of social theory, the great theoretical achievement of this pathbreaking investigation lies in the fact that it draws attention to the importance of the "papal revolution" for social evolution. [.....] The papal revolution, initiated by Gregory VII, serves Brunkhorst as the classical example of an event, which can be understood as exploiting, revitalizing and institutionalizing the transgressing egalitarian and universalistic ideas of justice contained in the living tradition of the monastic ethos. The conception of "freedom of association" formed the normative core of the new legal system, which differentiated itself from the religiopolitical complex in the course of the 12th century. The legal figure of the self-administering corporation marked the beginning of the functional differentiation of a hierarchical society, which had hitherto found its culminating point in the figure of the political ruler. As an unintented consequence of that medieval transformation, the secular state developed in the course of subsequent centuries. Following this dialectical pattern, Brunkhorst construes the Protestant Reformation and the emergence of the constitutional state as relevant stages in the evolution of law. [.....]The theoretical appropriation of the results of legal and historical research raises questions, which I leave to the experts. In the following, I will limit myself - proceeding from a fundamental agreement with the intention and design of this fascination sketch - to a discussion of certain aspects of its theoretical construction. Above all, I will briefly deal with five questions:1: Does the linear arrangement of the subsequent functional differentiation of the legal, the political, the economic and the educational system not draw an oversimplified (and, with regard to the legal system, somewhat misleading) picture of the thresholds, which punctuate the course of cultural and social modernization of Western societies?2: How can we explain the dynamics of those transgressing normative ideas, which gave rise to the papal revolution, which inspired all subsequent socioevolutionary bursts, and which cultimated in creating the "Kantian mindset"? This mindset is supposed to provide a somewhat mysterious potential which inspires social evolution from the outset?3: Does the fact that law is embedded in the context of world views mean that we have to see the pacemaker function of legal innovations as dependent on the evolution of world views? Does this mean that we need to see the evolutionary learning mechanism as located at a deeper level in society?4: If we ascribe greater weight to the critical role of the development of world views, what is the actual importance of the ambivalent description of "post-metaphysical" thinking for a diagnosis of modern society?5: What is the appropriate framework for a theory of social evolution, which attaches weight to the interplay between normative learning and systemic adaption?"

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

The Cambridge Rawls LexiconEd. by Jon Mandle & David A. Reidy(Cambridge University Press, 2014)920 pagesDescriptionJohn Rawls is widely regarded as one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century, and his work has permanently shaped the nature and terms of moral and political philosophy, deploying a robust and specialized vocabulary that reaches beyond philosophy to political science, economics, sociology, and law. This volume is a complete and accessible guide to Rawls' vocabulary, with over 200 alphabetical encyclopaedic entries written by the world's leading Rawls scholars. From 'basic structure' to 'burdened society', from 'Sidgwick' to 'strains of commitment', and from 'Nash point' to 'natural duties', the volume covers the entirety of Rawls' central ideas and terminology, with illuminating detail and careful cross-referencing. It will be an essential resource for students and scholars of Rawls, as well as for other readers in political philosophy, ethics, political science, sociology, international relations and law.Contents [pdf]Excerpts* Advantage, mutual vs. reciprocal [pdf]* Allocative Justice [pdf]* Charles Beitz* Citizen* H. L. A. Hart* Sovereignty* Thin and Full Theory of Goodness [pdf]* Index [pdf]

Monday, December 15, 2014

Europe Entrappedby Claus Offe(Wiley / Polity Press, 2014)104 pagesDescriptionToday Europe finds itself in a crisis that casts a dark shadow over an entire generation. The seriousness of the crisis stems from one core political contradiction at the heart of the European project: namely, that what urgently needs to be done is also extremely unpopular and therefore virtually impossible to do democratically. What must be done - and almost everyone agrees in principle on the measures that would be needed to deal with the financial crisis - cannot be sold to the voting public of the core member states, which so far have been less affected by the crisis than those on the periphery, nor can the conditions that core members try to impose be easily sold to voters in the deficit countries.The European Union is therefore becoming increasingly disunited, with deepening divides between the German-dominated ‘core’ and the southern ‘periphery’, between the winners and the losers of the common currency, between the advocates of greater integration and the anti-Europeans, between the technocrats and the populists. Europe finds itself trapped by the deepening divisions that are opening up across the Continent, obstructing its ability to deal with a crisis that has already caused massive social suffering in the countries of the European periphery and is threatening to derail the very project of the European Union.ContentsIntroduction [preview]Democratic Capitalism and The European UnionThe Nature of the CrisisGrowth, Debt, and Doom LoopsNo Return to Square OneIn Search of Political AgencyFinalitées: Bases of Identification with European Integration as a Political ProjectThe Configuration of Political Forces and PreferencesGermany's Leadership Role for Europe: A Non-Starter"Thin" CitizenshipRedistribution Across State Borders and Social DividesClaus Offe is Professor of Political Sociology at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.The book draws upon an article published in the European Law Review vol. 19 no. 5 (2013) pp. 595-611 [Abstract]. Originally published in German in Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik 2013 no. 1, titled "Europa in der Falle" (An English translation here).

Sunday, December 07, 2014

Distributive Justice and Access to AdvantageG. A. Cohen's EgalitarianismEdited by Alexander Kaufman(Cambridge University Press, 2014)286 pagesDescriptionG. A. Cohen was one of the world's leading political theorists. He was noted, in particular, for his contributions to the literature of egalitarian justice. Cohen's classic writings offer one of the most influential responses to the currency of the egalitarian justice question – the question, that is, of whether egalitarians should seek to equalize welfare, resources, opportunity, or some other indicator of well-being. Underlying Cohen's argument is the intuition that the purpose of egalitarianism is to eliminate disadvantage for which it is inappropriate to hold the person responsible. His argument therefore focuses on the appropriate role of considerations regarding responsibility in egalitarian judgment. This volume comprises chapters by major scholars addressing and responding both to Cohen's account of the currency of egalitarian justice and its practical implications and to Cohen's arguments regarding the appropriate form of justificatory arguments about justice.Contents [pdf] [preview]Introduction [pdf] - Alexander KaufmanPart I. Justice and Justification1. The Fundamental Disagreement between Luck Egalitarians and Relational Egalitarians [pdf] - Elizabeth Anderson2. Justice, Interpersonal Morality, and Luck Egalitarianism - Peter Vallentyne3. The Egalitarian Ethos as a Social Mechanism - Joseph H. Carens4. Justice and the Crooked Wood of Human Nature [pdf] - Adam Cureton5. Facts, Principles, and the Third Man [pdf] - Lea Ypi